The latest report from Skills for Care reflects on 2024/25 and stes out the size and structure of the adult social care sector.
- Size: There are 19,000 organisations working in adult social care, delivering services in an estimated 42,000 establishments (30,000 CQC registered).
- Workforce: There was a total of 1.71m posts in adult social care, a rise of 2.2% from 2023/24. 1.6m of these posts were filled, with 111,000 vacant posts - a decrease by 12.4% compared to 2023/24. 84.3% of the workforce were employed by the independent sector, 7.5% by local authorities and 8.2% were personal assistants directly employed by someone in receipt of a Direct Payment form the council. 22% of the workforce identified as male while 27% of the workfoce are aged 55 or over. White ethnicity made up 64% of the care workforce, compapred to 80% of the economically active population and 25% of the workforce are of non-EU nationality.
- Pay: The median hourly rate for care workers in March 2025 was £12.00, 56p hogher than the National Living Wage. 58% of care workers outside of London were earning the same or more than the Real Living Wage (RLW), only 33% of care workers in London were earning the same or more than RLW.
- Economic Contribution: The total wage bill for audlt social care in England was £31.8bn, an increase of 12.6% from 2023/24, while the sector's estimated contribution was £77.8bn gross value added to the economy (up 12.2% from 2023/24).
Looking forward, the report includes projections for the size of the adult social care workforce between 2024/25 and 2040 including a 27% increase in the population aged 65 and over by 2040. If the workforce grwos proportionalty to the growth of the population aged 65 and above, there will need to be an increase of 470,000 posts (27%).
Responding to the Skills For Care report, the state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England, a VODG spokesperson said:
“Although notable progress has been made, the challenges facing recruitment and retention of the social care workforce persist.
“It is well documented that changes to process and recruitment of international professionals and challenging migration routes have already had a significant impact and will continue to do so in the years to come, highlighting the urgent need for a comprehensive strategy to address how vacancies will be filled.
“To make social care a more attractive profession and to increase retention of our social care workforce, we must prioritise fair pay, rewards, career progression and recognise the vital work delivered in this sector.
“This starts with adequately funded support and addressing the differentials we’re seeing in services, where entry level pay is increasing yet resources are inadequate for those who wish to advance their careers.
“VODG believes that the Employment Rights Bill and a fully funded Fair Pay Agreement for Adult Social care have the potential to create substantial and lasting positive change, but these initiatives must be implemented with the right resources to truly transform the landscape for care professionals.”